History has shown that when all else fails human beings resort to violence. Most of the time this occurs when people are unable to solve issues in which opposing sides do not see eye to eye. The result of going to war gives power to the group of people who are victorious. However, violence was not used for this reason during the times of slavery. There was not a dispute that needed to be settled. Instead, racism and the whites` perspective of blacks as property instead of humans was the sole reason for the violence towards the slaves. In 12 Years a Slave, the depiction of violence displays that violence gives power to the oppressor because of the fear, pain, and suffering it brings those who are oppressed. Critics state that the film demonstrates …show more content…
Suddenly, the life where Solomon lived happily with his family became a memory instead of his reality. He had everything taken away from him: his family, his life, and his identity, which made him powerless under the whites. In terms of physical violence, he was beaten, whipped, and hung. After repeatedly being beaten, the slaves became weak physically and in spirit. Although sometimes their masters would whip them simply out of aggression, they were fearful of being punished even further. Therefore, they would obey the slave owners and talk to them in a respectful manner, which as a result, gave the whites power because of the control they had over the slaves. The physical violence in the movie also contributed to the themes of inequality and racism as it demonstrates that “there is nothing morally right about slavery”(“The Violence of 12 Years a Slave”). The violence in the film also brought attention to some very important characters. The entire movie shows the brutal and heartbreaking circumstances of the enslaved people. However, the tone of the film shifts to a more hopeful tone when Bass` character is introduced. His character is very different compared to the other white characters in the film because “he was the only person who had the …show more content…
Laich mentions that the violence taking place, the oppression of the slaves, and the dark soundtrack contributes to the intense tone. The theme of injustice is evident throughout the film, and it is clear that the complete lack of equality made it possible for power to rise. She fails to discuss the violence on the Ford plantation, and only talks about the Epps plantation. The majority of the movie did take place on the Epps plantation. However, she chose to comment on this part of the movie because Epps showed absolutely no compassion towards the slaves through his “merciless and cowardly” behavior (Laich) . The critic mentions how the Epps seemed “to hold hatred in their bodies like a sickness” (Laich). In particular, she refers to the time when the couple forced the slaves to dance in the middle of the night. In response to this scene the critic asks “what kind of sad ladder does a person's heart have to climb to manifest into such perverse expressions of power?” (Laich). This scene revealed that through violence, not only were the whites able to use their power to force the slaves to do brutal and hard labor, but they were also able to make them do whatever they had asked. Similar to the first critic, it is evident that Laich condemns racism as well. Both of the film reviews noted that this film is relevant to the world we live in today. Racism still exists and it is unfortunate
This again gives some idea of what the whole issue of slavery would be because it is not easy for a human being to prefer death over anything. The idea of runaways also emerges in the documentary as one of the most critical aspect of the slavery in the United States. Blacks as well as whites who sympathized with the black slaves, decided to help slaves escape to freedom. This again, shows that not every white in the United States supported the issue of slavery.
The killings made by the slaves are saddening, too. Mutilating the whites and leaving their bodies lying is inhumane. It is such a shocking story. This book was meant to teach the reader on the inhumanity of slavery. It also gives us the image of what happened during the past years when slavery was practised.
In the book 12 Years A Slave written from a primary source by Solomon Northup based on a true story describes the triumphant journey Solomon Northup goes through as he never lost hope of regaining his freedom and resisted the dehumanization of enslavement in many ways. Solomon was born a free black man in New York in 1808 while his father, Mintus was born a slave and gained his freedom as their master passed away also inheriting their masters last name "Northup". Growing Solomon worked on a farm with his dad and soon after his dad died in 1829 he soon married a women named Anne Hampton in which they soon moved to Saratoga Springs, New York and had three children of their own. They were living like any other free person was and soon Solomon was working in many industries and Anne established herself as a cook and in the 1830 's Solomon had a reputation of being a well played violinist. In 1841 Solomon had became unemployed and was looking for an occupation, he ran into Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton in who then offers him a job in a circus playing the violin. As they arrive in Washington D.C. which is slave territory, he begins to become sick and passes out which was planned by Merrill and Abram to poison and kidnap him in the slave territory and sell him in which he soon wakes up in chains in a slave pen. Solomon 's first master was James H. Burch who he was sold by the two men who had
What would happen if all guns are banned within the United States? The rapid amount of mass shooting has brought this attention to the mainstream media. The argument to remove the second amendment has brought up many solutions ranging from a total outright ban to the laxer gun right laws. In the article written by Jeffrey Goldberg, “The Case for More Guns (and More Gun Control)”, makes the argument that more civilians with weapons can help either prevent and/or limit mass shootings casualties. In his argument, the number of guns in the U.S. greatly outnumbers the total population consequently an unapproachable goal. Also, interviews both a victim of a mass shooting and experts that help his argument which has many inconsistencies. The article
Violence is an integral part of slavery because they wished to break down of slaves, and the slaves counteracted this violence with more violence. The slave owners had a brutal system of stripping away the human rights of their slaves and reducing them to nothing more than property. This was essential to show the slaves who their owner was. The way the slave owners did this was they beat their slaves to make them fear their owners. The slave owners the fear in their slaves to make sure the slave would not get out of line. The entire system of slavery was built on the ability of white men being able to control their slaves. White men would often have to teach saves a lesson using their notorious whip. They would chase the slaves with dogs if
In the film Twelve Years a Slave, the treatment of slaves in the antebellum South is portrayed as cruel and inhumane. The film depicts the diversity of slavery as a living hell for every black person in America. The film does this by emphasizing on the kidnapping, rape, separation of families, humiliation, abuse, and torture. Slaves and black people were treated as an inferior race of people.
[4] A constant problem I find in slavery films is that the pro-slavery argument is made to look ridiculous, an illustration that lends itself to polarization, a problem certainly present in this film. White characters, whether sympathetic to their slaves or not, agree that the African is an inferior being, a savage privileged to be taught the civilization offered by slavery. The most blatantly ridiculous defender of the slave order is the Count. Believing what he says, the Count pushes on the slaves the idea that nature has made them inferior and that any ills brought on them are the result of their own folly. His world view is blatantly preposterous, making the institution ridiculous and oppressive.
The film 12 Years a Slave, an adaptation of the 1853 autobiography by a slave named Solomon Northup, depicts his everyday life after his rights and freedoms are ripped away. Through the unpleasant slave auction scenes to the sickening slave punishments, 12 Years a Slave is a heartbreaking story that unfortunately conveys the harsh truth on the issues surrounding slavery. Consequently, during the film there are many themes and events that trigger different thoughts and reactions varying between viewers, and importantly a better understanding of Solomon Northup’s story and slavery itself.
To explain the movie plot, we must remember that the film takes place in the south during the Civil Rights era. In the
The act of violence also contributes to the dehumanization and the “breaking down” of the slaves. Slaves were beaten, and whipped daily, subjected to cruel torture. Northup describes these acts of violence in his narrative very vividly.
The majority of the racism involved in the movie is towards the negro population. They are perceived as thugs, thieves and
The use of violence was ultimately a method of fear-mongering to assert dominance, which can be seen in the Butcher’s character in The Gangs of New York. Towards the middle of the movie, the Butcher reveals to Amsterdam his philosophy on the downfall of civilization and that he has only maintained his high power through the fear he strikes in other people. As for 12 Years a Slave, the violence undoubtedly serves the interests of the white plantation owners because they are in need of a cheap and reliable source of labor. By manipulating these slaves with violence, they are able to keep order in the class system and continue to make money from the
It was a hard scene to watch, and was hard to watch Edwin repeatedly whoop a naked Patsey and see her crying and in a lot of pain. It was even harder to see Edwin’s face and to see how much strength he was putting into whipping Patsey. The website U.S. History Scene said that, “Patsey’s story represented the brutality of slavery experienced by bondswomen” (Lieblich 1). The film portrayed the “brutality of slavery” in a historically accurate way by showing the slave owners beating their slaves and treating them terribly. “At the hands of white men, Northup made clear, black women were sexually and physically exploited with impunity during slavery. The normalization of sexual exploitation of slave women reflected the racist perceptions and stigmatization of black women” (Lieblich, 1). This shows the realism of the film during the scene where Edwin rapes Patsey. It was not an easy scene to watch, but it depicted the historical accuracy of the times by showing the “sexual exploitation of slave women” especially black slave women (Lieblich,
Confucius (551-479BC) was a Chinese teacher, politician and philosopher; he has lived and worked during the Chinese Spring and Autumn Period (770-481 BC). Confucius father Kong He was an officer in the Lu military. Kong He died when Confucius was three years old and later his mother Yan Zhengzai raised Confucius in poverty. Confucius is the most influential Chinese philosopher, who’s teaching had a great effect and spread out in the Chinese life and culture for well over two thousand years, and has greatly influenced a substantial portion of the world's population.
With reference to the Conceptual Framework, when preparing the financial statement, using the measurement bases include historical cost, current cost, present value and fair value is called a mixed measurement approach (Rankin, M., Stanton, P., McGowan, S., Ferlauto, K & Tilling, M., 2012).